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Coupler
Couplers, AlsoKnownAs Couplings are mechanical assemblies that join railcars so to makeup a trains consist. The couplers, track gage, brakes, clearances, etc of a given railcar, are just some of many factors that determine compatibility with other pieces of rollingstock and a specific railway. An entire Coupler assembly, AlsoKnownAs draftgear, typically includes various components: drawbar, yoke, cushioning,... There are 3 very general categories of couplers: * FullManual Couplers require a man stepping in between cars to manually couple+decouple mechanical + pneumatic + electric connections. * SemiAuto Couplers automaticly couple+decouple the mechanical connection, but still require manual pneumatic + electric connections. * FullAuto Couplers automaticly couple+decouple all mechanical + pneumatic + electric connections. Link&Pin Couplers This coupler is a FullManual design, originating on NorthAmerican railways in the early 1800s. Operation is simple but dangerous; a drawbar\buffer projecting away from the frame allows access to a vertical pin that holds a link in place. The link extends out the end of the drawbar\buffer. As railcars come together, the opposite pin is raised by hand, the link guided into the opposite drawbar\buffer, then the 2nd pin is lowered, thus joining the cars. Uncoupling is accomplished by performing the same procedure in reverse. Link&Pin Couplers have caused many injuries and deaths, and the loose links &\or pins were often stolen, rendering the coupler useless. This design was outlawed by the US Congress beginning in 1893 and the Janney\AAR coupler became standard in NorthAmerica. Link&Pin Couplers have been generally outlawed worldwide and now are only found on historic\museum rollingstock and isolated colonial\narrowgage lines or on industrial\plant stock. 3Link Couplers This coupler is a FullManual design, originating on British railways in the early 1800s, and yet have only recently been removed from service with the retirement of legacy BritishRailways\BR goods\freight stock. The 3Link Coupler is simple yet dangerous, but was used due to its low cost. Stock fitted with this coupler have a drawhook connecting to internal draftgear, along with a pair of sprung buffers on each end of the car. A 3Link chain hangs from a gedge\notch in each hook shank; after 2 cars are pushed together, one of the two 3Link chains is lifted into the opposing hook. A shunting pole can be used to manipulate the chains, which is somewhat safer than being between the buffers. A disadvantage of this design is the resulting "loose" coupling, meaning several inches of slack is inherent, which must be taken up in tension as the consist accelerates; as the consist decelerates, each couplings slack again must be compressed. This causes much wear and tear on each cars structure, draftgear, buffers and lading, thus as improved coupler designs became available, only slow goods\freight stock were allowed to use 3Link Couplers. An advantage is less of the consists weight is on the locomotive as it accelerates, thus why this coupler remained is use so long. The legacy BR 3Link Coupler is compatible with legacy BR Instanter Couplers and standard BR\EU\UIC Screw Couplers. Instanter Couplers This coupler is a FullManual design. AlsoKnownAs Close Couplers, this coupler is a mechanical improvement over 3Link Couplers; the 3Link standard center link is now replaced with a special triangular link, allowing 2 positions: LooseCoupled or CloseCoupled. LooseCoupling is used during shunting; CloseCoupling is used running in trains; a shunting pole can be used to connect\disconnect\adjust the Instanter chain. Screw Couplers This coupler is a FullManual design, and has become standard on British, Irish, and European rollingstock, both in Goods\Freight and Passenger service. Screw Couplers are a mechanical improvement over 3Link and Instanter Couplers; in essence this is a 3Link with an opposingthread turnbuckle replacing the chains center link. However this designs operation is more dangerous, as a shunting pole can not be used; a man must go between cars and buffers to connect\disconnect this coupler. Standard BR\EU\UIC Screw Couplers are compatible with legacy BR 3Link+Instanter couplers. Janney Couplers The Janney\AAR\ARA\MCB coupler is a SemiAuto design, meaning mechanical coupling+decoupling is automatic, but PneumaticPipe+ElectricCircuit connections are seperate & manual. Inspired by Human Hands & Fingers, then patented 1873~1914 by E.Janney Of USVI, the design was tested + improved again & again thru many decades by the McConway&Torley Foundry, PennsylvaniaRailRoad\PRR, MasterCarBuilders\MCB, AmericanRailwayAssociation\ARA, & finally AmericanAssociatedRailways\AAR, to become a practical coupler, proven in abusive duty + extreme environments, & requiring little maintenance. Janney couplers operate much like Willison couplers, but with jointed\hinged nuckles instead of interlocking heads. At least one nuckle must be open to allow mating; as 2 cars come together, the nuckles are pushed closed by the palm of the opposing coupler until latch pins hold the nuckles locked. To decouple, cars are pushed together for slack, one pin is raised with a side lever allowing that nuckle to open & the cars are free to part. An advantage over Willison couplers is Janney couplers intentionally have nuckles of lower strength than the body or shank, thus acting as ShearPins if overstressed; a broken nuckle is readily replaced onsite by the train crew; a disadvantage is Willison couplers mate without concern for nuckle closed\open position. As enacted by Congress in 1893, Janney\AARC\MCB5 couplers became standard in NorthAmerica, replacing dangerous Link&Pin couplers on Freight & unreliable MillerHookPlatform couplers on Passenger stock, greatly reducing injuries & allowing efficient interchange of rollingstock between railroads. Elsewhere Janneys are slowly accepted, having to overcome legacy coupler standards & regional politics. Janneys known as Alliance + Sharons + DropHeads + SwingHeads + Henricots are used on a small number of Freight+Passenger Unit Stock in Britain & Europe. DropHeads + SwingHeads pivot to reveal a standard BR\EU\UIC Screw Coupler hook. After 100+years of various colonial couplers, Janneys have slowly become common on Freight+Passenger stock in Australia+China+India+Indonesia+Japan+Korea+Malaysia+NewZeaLand+Saudi+SouthAfrica+Vietnam... Janney\AARE couplers, superceding AARD\ARAD + AARC\MCB5, became the AARE standard in 1932 for general Freight Wagons: BoxCars+CenterBeams+Hoppers+Flats+Gondolas+InterModals+AutoRacks+Reefers... The AARE is compatible with other AAR\ARA\MCB types, & is most common of all Janney\AAR types. Janney\AARF\InterLock couplers, conceived in 1901 by E.Ramsay@PrattCoalCo of USAL, became the AARF standard in 1954 for RotaryGondola+ChemicalTank Freight Wagons & later for general service Lokomotives. The AARF is compatible with other AAR\ARA\MCB types, prevents decoupling\telescoping\punctures during derailments, minimizes slack, & allows RotaryDumping of Gondola Freight Wagons. Janney\AARH\TightLock couplers, originated with 1915 designs by E.Henricot of CtStEtienne Belgium, manufactured for NMBS\SNCB Passenger Stock as improvement over ARAD+Alliance designs of that era. A further improved & noticably changed design, first used 1928 in America on the NewYorkCentralRailRoad, became the AARH standard in 1947 for Passenger Wagons+MultipleUnits. The AARH is compatible with other AAR\ARA\MCB types, prevents decoupling\telescoping\punctures during derailments, minimizes slack, & allows PneumaticPipe+ElectricCircuit appliances that convert AARH couplers from SemiAuto to FullAuto operation. Willison Couplers This coupler is a SemiAuto design, originally from 1913 by J.Willison@NationalCastingsCo\NaCo of USOH. First intended for abusive duty in extreme environments, the rugid Willison Coupler has become a worldwide standard for farm\plantation, mine\industrial, and colonial\narrowgage railways, in 0.50Scale +0.75Scale +FullScale sizes. Willison Couplers operate much like Janney Couplers, though with interlocking heads instead of hinged nuckles. A Willison advantage compared to Janneys, is they mate without concern for nuckle closed\open position; a disadvantage is the Willison does not have breakaway\replaceable nuckles and head\shank failures are not repairable onsite by the train crew. After the original design was enlarged\improved by NaCo+LAFLoyd, combination Willison+Screw Couplers were used on 1932~1970 French\SNCF.141TC locomotives and associated passenger cars serving Paris~Nord routes. After further testing\improvement, in 1935 Russia made the Willison\CA3 coupler standard for the entire RZD broadgage railway; this version has cast letters CA3 meaning CоветскихAвто3 in Russian or SA3 meaning SovietAuto3 in English, and is used across the Russian subcontinent: Russia, FinLand, Mongolia, Ukraine, Turkey, Iran... A newer CоветскихAвтоKuppling5\CAK5\CAKv version is used in Russ~Euro interchange, being compatible with both Russian\RZD CA3 and BR\EU\UIC Screw Couplers. Scharfenberg Couplers This coupler is a FullyAuto design, originally from 1903 by K.Scharfenberg of Germany. AlsoKnownAs SchaKu\Dellner\Voith couplers, Scharfenbergs have become the most common coupler worldwide to be used on unit passenger trains: DMUs +EMUs +Tram\LRVs... As two Scharfenberg couplers come together, brakepipes mate and cocks automaticly open, and rotating covers reveal electric contacts. To uncouple, a remote release is operated from the cab. Variants of the Scharfenberg, Shibata & Shinkansen couplers are standard on Japanese +Korean passenger stock. The higher cost, relative complexity, need for covers\heaters in dirty\winter service, and limited draft ratings, has prevented this coupler from being commonly used for freight. References * RailCarCouplers At OBTS Wiki * RailCarCouplers At WikiPedia * Book: The Railway Data File. Published 2000 by Silverdale Books Category:Locomotive Parts Category:Steam Locomotive Principles Category:Diesel Locomotive Principles Category:Electric Train Principles Category:Encyclopedic articles